Jaishankar Targets BRI at SCO Meeting

At SCO meet, Jaishankar targets BRI

#GS-02 International Relations

For Prelims:

About SCO:

  • Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization for regional security.
  • SCO was created in 2001 as a successor to Shanghai Five which was constituted by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
  • After Uzbekistan joined the organization in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
  • India and Pakistan joined the grouping in 2017, Iran became the newest member of the grouping in 2022 while Belarus has applied for membership.
  • India is going to be the next Chair of the SCO, and will be hosting the summit in 2023.

About BRI:

  • Belt and Road initiative is an investment program that aims at infrastructure development and economic integration of countries along the route of the historic Silk Road.
  • The Initiative was announced in 2013 by China’s President Xi Jinping and was previously called as the one belt one road initiative.

It encompassed five kinds of activities:

  • Policy coordination
  • Trade promotion
  • Physical connectivity
  • Renminbi internationalisation
  • People to people contacts.

For Mains:

Concerns about BRI:

  • The projects undertaken under BRI are all allotted to Chines State owned companies most of which bring in Chinese workers. These practices result in economic loss for the host country.
  • BRI is seen as a debt trap instrument of the Chinese as seen in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
  • India has raised concerns about violation of its sovereignty by the BRI since a part of it called the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
  • BRI projects are also marred with allegations of corruption and bribery. Massive protests have been happening in BRI sites in many countries including Pakistan.